Rod for card-indexes.



No. 7II,!I0. `Patentd 00L I4, |902.

D. E. HUNTER.

HIIUD4 FOR CARD INDEXES.

(appuminn' med Feb. 17, 1902.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. HUNTER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTOv LIBRARY BUREAU, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

ROD FOR CARD-INDEXES.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent N o. 711,1 10, dated October 14, 1902.

Application led February 17, 1902. Serial No. 94,387. (No modal.)

To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that I, DAVID E. HUNTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rods for Card- Indexes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to card holding and releasing devices for card-index systems; and it consists of the improvements hereinbelow described.

In the drawings hereto annexed,which illustrate an embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of a drawer or case containing my improved cardholder. Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l looking in a direction indicated by the arrows and showing in detail the card-rod actuating and guiding devices in card-holding and card-releas ing position, respectively. Fig. 4 shows the card-holding rods in cross-section in their relation to a card; and Fig. 5 is a sect-ion taken in Fig. l along the line 5 5 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing in detail the rod supporting and guiding devices at the rear of the drawer.

A is the bottom of the drawer or case, B the front, and C the rear thereof.

Cards are stacked in the drawer in the usual manner, each card M (shown partially in Fig. 4) being provided with an opening m, which has a constricted neck fm. The cardrods H H' secure or release the cards, according to their position in the aperture m or its constricted neck m.

The card-holding devices consist of dat rods H H', which at their ends are angularly bent, as at h h', at the front of the drawer and at h6 71,7 at the rear of the drawer. The middle portions of lthe rods H H' are in operative relationship with the cards M,and when in cardsecuring position lie horizontally edge to edge, thus presenting a large horizontal surface, and yet requiring very little vertical space for their accommodation in the apertures m of the cards.

Aside from the specific mechanism by which I have shown the card-rods H I'I as operated,

the movement of these rods from card-securing to card releasing position is such that the upper faces of the rods are folded together simultaneously with the lowering of both rods bodily to card-releasing position.

In Fig. 4 the two extreme positions of the rods H H are shown, the full-line section indicating them in their card-securing position and the dotted lines indicating them in their lower and card-releasing position. It will be observed at once that this peculiar movement of thel card-rods H H, wherein their contiguous edges move downward while their outer edges approach each other, enables me to secure the necessary change inposition in the smallest possible aperture in the cards themselves, while at the same time the card-rods H H present a large and effective surface when in securing position. Moreover, the fact that the card-rods are lowered bodily in the act of bringing their upper faces into contact with each other involves a movement of the rods into the constricted neck lm' of the aperture m, so that when the card is removed the rods H H' are already located in the neck portion of the aperture, so that there is no danger of collision between the rods and the corners of the aperture m where the latter widens out from the neck m. I have indicated in Fig. 4 by the dotted line m2 m2 the contour of the opening rml appropriate to an arrangement whereby one only of the rods H H (in the case shown the rod H) may be employed instead of a pair, the shifting movement of the rod H' enabling me to employ the large horizontal surface of a rod for card-securing purposes consistent with ease and safety in withdrawing a selected card.

The specific manner in which I accomplsh the above-described movements of the rods H H is as follows: On theinner side of the front B of the drawer I secure the rod-shifter F, which is pivoted at f. Pins h2 h3, secured to and projecting from the shifter F, it loosely in corresponding holes at or near the contiguous edges of the rods H H', respectively. Hangers G G', pivotally secured at g to the front B of the drawer, are provided at their lower ends with pins g2 g3, which fit loosely in corresponding holes in the outer edges of IOO the rods H H' where the latter are bent down at h h. A slotf2 is cut in the shifter F and receives the eccentric-pin di, which in turn is carried by the actuating-shaft D. At the rear end C of the drawer I provide supporting and guiding devices forthe rods which correspond in mechanical movement with the shifter and hangers at the front B of the drawer. These supporting and guiding devices arel shown in Fig. 5 and consist of a guiding-lever L, pivoted at Z and furnished with pins Z Z2, which loosely t in corresponding holes at or near the contiguous edges of the rods H H. Hangers K K', pivotally secured to the back C of the drawer at lo, are furnished at their lower ends with pins h4 h5, which fit loosely in corresponding holes in the outer edges of the rods II H where the latter are turned down, as at h6 hl.

The actuating devices are located at the front B of the drawer and consist of the turning-handle Dmounted on or integral with the actuating-shaft D, which ts in the sleeve or bushing E, the bushing E being secured in the aperture b in the front B of the drawer by means of ascrew e.

The bushing E at its rear end is cut away on one side from the face rearward, and thus provides the stop-surfaces d5 d6, which coperate with the pin d3, secured to the actuating-shaft D', and thus limit the turning movement of the shaft D to about a half-revolution. The shaft D is reduced in diameter at its middle portion d to accommodate the spring d2, which by its securement to the shaft D' and the bushing E constantlyyurges the shaft D to the position in which the stoppin d3 rests against the stop d5, this position corresponding to thecard-holding position of the flat rods H H. The operation of the above-described devices is as follows: When the handle D is turned, as indicated by arrow in Fig. l, the spring d2 yields, and the pin cZ7, acting in the slot f2 of the shifter F, causes the latter to turn downward on its pivot f', which is at such a distance from-'the rod-actuating and supporting pins h2 h3 that the movement of the latteris substantiallyin a straight line. Thus the inner contiguous edges of the rods H H are moved downward together, while the outer edges of these rods are sustained by the'hangers G G, which swing together to the position shown in Fig. 3, carrying the rods H H therewith. The upper faces of the rods are folded together, the rods being lowered bodily below their former position. The device of bending or twisting the outer ends ofthe rods H H assists the action of the hangers G G in that the pins 9'2 g3 are not brought directly over the pins h2 h3, and consequently thel downward movement of the shifterF constantly exerts an effective inward pull upon the pins g2 g3. The supporting and guiding devices at the rear end of the drawer (shown in Fig. 5) follow and copy the movements of the actuating and guiding devices (shown in'Figs. 2 and 3) which operate at the front of the drawer. The relationship of the rods H H' to the cards M and their lower edge aperture m hasfbeen described above in connection with Fig. 4..

What I claim, and desire to secure by Iletl ters Patent, is-

1. vIn a card-holder, the combination of a pair of flat rods, lying edge to edge in cardsecuring position, and means for simultaneously folding the upper faces of the rods together and lowering the rods bodily to cardreleasing position, substantially as described.

2. In a card-holder, the combination of a iiat card-securing rod, lying in a horizontal plane in card-securing position, and means for simultaneously turning the rod to a vertical position and lowering the rod bodily, substantially as described.

3. In a card-holder, the combination of a pair of iiat card-securing rods, lying edge to edge in card-securing position, a rod-shifter,

Vconnections therewith to the contiguous edges and rods are normally held in card-holding position. f v

5. In a card-holder, the combination of a pair of dat card-securing rods, lying edge to edge in card-securing position, a rod-shifter,

connections therewith to the contiguous edges of the rods, rod-hangers, connections therewith to the outer edges of the rods, a shaft, connections therewith to the shifter whereby the latter is actuated, and a stop whereby the turning movementof the shaft is limited, substantially as described.

6. In a card-holder, the combination of a pair of fiat card-rods, having theirouter edges bent downward at the ends, a rod-shifter, connections therewith to the contiguous edges of the rods, rod-hangers, connections therewith to the downwardly-bent outer edges of the rods, and means for actuating the shifter, substantially as described.

7. In a card-holder, the combination of a pair of flat card-rods, lying edge to edge in card-securing position, a rod-shifter and `rodhangers at the operating end of the rods,means for actuating the shifter, and supporting and guiding devices at the other end of the rods which correspond in mechanical movement with the shifter and hanger at the operating end, substantially as described.

' Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 12th day of February, 1902.

i f DAVID E. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

EB GRALL, FRANK S. I-IARTNETT.

IIO 

